Last updated: April 18, 2026

Transparency Is Part of Our Security Philosophy

Making Sense Of Security (makingsenseofsecurity.co) participates in affiliate marketing programs. This means that when you click certain links on our website and make a purchase, we may earn a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you.

We believe you deserve to know exactly how we make money, because trust is the foundation of good security advice. Here’s the full picture.

What Affiliate Links Are

An affiliate link is a special URL that tells a merchant we referred you. If you buy a product or service through one of our affiliate links, we receive a small percentage of the sale (typically 5% to 50%, depending on the program). The price you pay is identical to what you would pay going directly to the merchant — the commission comes out of the merchant’s margin, not your wallet.

Programs We Participate In

We are a participant in, or are actively evaluating partnerships with, affiliate programs including but not limited to:

  • Amazon Associates Program
  • Impact.com partner networks
  • ShareASale partner networks
  • CJ (Commission Junction) partner networks
  • PartnerStack partner networks
  • Direct partnerships with password managers (1Password, Bitwarden, Proton Pass, Dashlane, NordPass)
  • Direct partnerships with VPN providers (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark, Mullvad)
  • Direct partnerships with identity protection services (Aura, IdentityGuard, LifeLock, Experian)
  • Direct partnerships with antivirus and endpoint security (Bitdefender, Malwarebytes, Norton, Kaspersky)
  • Direct partnerships with secure cloud storage (Proton Drive, Tresorit, Sync.com)
  • Direct partnerships with privacy-focused email providers (Proton Mail, Tutanota, StartMail)

This list may expand or change over time. We do not list every program individually for the sake of brevity, but any product or service we recommend that offers an affiliate partnership is considered covered by this disclosure.

How We Choose What to Recommend

We only recommend products we have personally evaluated, researched extensively, or that are widely recognized as secure and reputable within the cybersecurity community.

Our editorial process for product recommendations:

  1. We research the product’s security posture, privacy policy, and data handling practices.
  2. We evaluate independent expert reviews, CVE history, and third-party audits where available.
  3. We consider user experience, pricing fairness, and alignment with our readers’ needs.
  4. We test products ourselves when possible.
  5. We disclose any material relationships with the vendor beyond affiliate revenue (e.g., free product access, sponsorship).

Affiliate status is never the primary reason we recommend a product. If a non-affiliate tool is more secure or better suited for our readers, we will recommend it and clearly note that we do not earn a commission from it.

Where You Will See Affiliate Links

Affiliate links may appear in:

  • Blog post content, including in-line recommendations
  • Product comparison and review pages
  • Tool result pages (for example, our Password Strength Checker may recommend password managers)
  • Newsletter emails
  • Resource pages and security checklists
  • Downloadable PDF guides and lead magnets
  • Social media posts linked back to our site

Affiliate links will typically be indicated inline with phrases such as “(affiliate link)” or marked with a superscript indicator. Pages that contain multiple affiliate links will carry a banner or notice at the top of the article.

Your Trust, Our Responsibility

We will never recommend a product we believe to be insecure, deceptive, or harmful — regardless of the commission offered. If we later learn that a product we previously recommended has become less secure, experienced a breach, or changed its practices in ways that concern us, we will update or remove the recommendation and note the change publicly.

We also do not accept payment for positive reviews, and we do not allow advertisers or affiliate partners to influence the substance of our editorial content.

FTC Compliance

This disclosure is provided in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR Part 255). We strive to meet or exceed all applicable disclosure standards.

European Economic Area and United Kingdom Readers

For readers in the EEA, UK, and other jurisdictions subject to consumer protection and advertising regulations, the relationships disclosed above constitute “commercial communication” and “material connections” for the purposes of applicable law.

Questions

If you have any questions about our affiliate relationships or how we make editorial decisions, please contact us at hello@makingsenseofsecurity.co.

This disclosure applies to makingsenseofsecurity.co and is separate from our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Third-Party Services Disclosure.